A major driving force for growth of the denim industry is the need for new innovation and fashion. However, the current technology of producing and washing denim really only delivers one kind of product B blue jeans (or shorts or shirts) with two or three basic shades of blue.
Almost all jeans sold today in America are enzyme washed. The purpose of the enzyme wash is to remove some of the color from the rigid dark blue denim and develop the cast and character of a stonewashed look. Depending upon the length of the enzyme wash cycle, the color of the final denim can range from light blue, medium blue or dark blue jeans with one basic pattern result. The following excerpts taken from a recent article in Daily News Record (AGlut of Basic Denim Has Mills Searching for Fashion Appeal, Mar. 3, 1998) from leaders in the denim industry illustrate the point:
Dutch Leonard, President of Burlington Global Denim, stated ARight now there is a world oversupply of denim in basics. We are shoring up our participation in the added value segment of the denim business@. He further reports that AWe are spending a lot of time with consumers to find out what they want. What we have found is that consumers are looking for something new and different.
Watts Carr, President of Cone Denim North America, indicates “Of course time will tell if consumers are willing to spend more for investment jeans wear, but from what we've heard, the apparel makers are getting into it for the long run. And I think that we will see a broad-based movement that will impact jeans wear manufacturers across the board and help fend off some of the off-shore low-ball-priced business”.
Chris Glynn, Executive Vice-President of Greenwood, stated the only way an American mill can survive is in added-value fabrics. The market is big enough for a compromise between volume and innovation.
John Heldrich, President and Chief Executive Officer of Swift Denim, reported that at Magic, there was a lot of excitement around denim. Fashion items are what is doing well. The designer segment is driving lighter weights and finishes, and newer brand names.
John Hudson, Jr., Executive Vice-President of Avondale, indicated that the key to success in today's denim business is low-cost manufacturing and innovation.
Hence, it can be seen that the denim market is crying for new denim products other than the three basic shades of blue. However, the enzyme washing process that is used to create the denim look simply does not have the flexibility to produce a variety of different denim looks. In addition, the enzyme washing process has numerous drawbacks.
The true total cost for enzyme washing one pair of denim jeans is about $3 per pair when all unit cost and freight parameters are considered. The enzyme washing process significantly reduces (by about 36%) tensile and tear properties of the denim. In addition, the enzyme washing process produces numerous defects such as back pocket blowout that results in scrap or rework. The enzyme washing process uses as much as 35 gallons of water per pair of jeans. In addition to all these problems, there are significant environmental problems associated with the handling and disposal of the enzymes and wastewater.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,207 assigned to Icon, Inc. discloses a water free method for color fading textile materials with the use of a laser. Icon indicates that the wavelength of the laser should be chosen such that it is strongly absorbed by the dye, but not by the textile material. Icon used a Yag Laser for this purpose. Accordingly, the Icon patent teaches that the Yag laser process will provide optimum dye photo-decomposition while not damaging the textile material. Icon, however, still only taught emulating the standard characteristics of certain convention denim design.
In our copending applications, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,461, TechnoLines, LLC. has shown that to produce the desired unique patterns, a CO2 laser is used which alters the surface chemistry of the fabric such that the fabric is indeed damaged, albeit at an acceptable level. For example, TechnoLines, Inc. has determined that the percent reduction in warp tensile strength from a number of different new denim patterns created was from about 10 to about 20%. This is much better than the conventional enzyme washing process which reduces warp tensile properties by about 36%. Therefore, the TechnoLines, LLC laser scribing process clearly but acceptably damages the textile material.
One possible look that has been desired and used by the industry is a seam abrasion look. This look forms a worn or ragged look on all the seams on a pair of jeans.
TechnoLines, LLC. has disclosed in our copending application that a specific range of energy density per unit time, EDPUT, must be controlled such that the various patterns withstand the vigors of repeated washings, yet maintain a bright image pattern.